The Church of the Holy Child Read online

  “Rhyder stepped into the living room. “What is it?” He looked down at what I was holding before anyone spoke. “We’re in the right place. There’s got to be more here.”

  I pulled the desk out from the wall. Taped to the back was a plastic grocery store bag. “I’ve got something,” I called out. I tore the bag from the wood. Inside were the missing cell phones.

  Griff knelt beside me and lifted a pink one from the pile. “Allie’s,” he said.

  He stood and moved toward the kitchen escaping the dread that had descended on the room after finding the hair and phones. “Empty bottles under the sink,” he called.

  Rhyder joined him. “And a six pack in the fridge,” he said. “This is where she comes to gloat. Relive the kills.” His eyes roamed the walls, the counters and the floor. He took a step forward, gripped the small wooden kitchen table and flipped it onto its side checking underneath. Nothing. Then he went back to the refrigerator and began shimmying it out from the wall. Griff grabbed the other side. From the doorway I saw red fabric slip to the floor behind it.

  “There’s something there,” I said.

  Griff reached his hand behind it and pulled out a red backpack. “It’s Allie’s.” He unzipped it and dumped the contents. Notebooks and the Kindle we’d given her for her birthday hit the floor.

  “Allie.” Griff’s voice ricocheted off the walls. He started tearing open doors. “Double check the closets,” Rhyder said. “That’s where her father kept her.”

  The uniforms joined us and within minutes we’d torn the apartment apart leaving only the walls intact.

  “What the hell,” Griff said coming back to the center of the living room.

  “Amy used to live near here,” I said. “Her building had a community storage space in the basement. The only entrance was from outside. In the back.”

  Before I’d completed the last sentence Griff was out the door and down the front steps. When I came around the building he was standing in front of a basement door with his foot raised. He drove it into the wood. It splintered under the force. We stepped into complete darkness. The air was freezing. The dirt floor was wet and slippery. It sucked at our shoes. Rats squeaked and scurried to nests in the dark. I ran my hand down the wall beside me searching for a switch, but came up empty.

  “Allie.” Griff’s voice was pleading. “Flashlight,” he yelled. “Get me a light.”

  Officer Dietrich handed me his flashlight and I passed it to Griff. The single beam showed rock walls and a dirt floor off to our right. To our left a wooden shelf held cans of dried up paint and rusty tools that hadn’t felt hands in years. The other uniform came up beside Griff and together they moved their beams in a steady pattern across the far wall.

  We saw Eliza first. A guttural sound escaped Griff as the light fell on her. She was propped against the rock wall, her head resting on her shoulder. Her lips were swollen and cracked, both eyes were black and blue, the skin around them puffy torn and oozing like the skin of an over-ripe tomato. A gash along the right side of her head was caked with dried blood, a chunk of hair missing above her left ear and a clear handprint around her throat.

  Griff hurried toward her keeping the flashlight’s beam on the floor beside her instead of on her face. I hung back with the two uniforms, giving him a minute. He slipped one arm around her shoulders and laid her flat on the ground then smoothed her hair back off her face and pressed his two fingers against her throat.

  “Ambulance,” he said. “She’s got a pulse.” he sat back on his heels and after hesitating for a second, tipped his face to the ceiling and opened his mouth. “Allie,” he screamed. “Allie.” His voice bounced off the walls before cracking in his throat.

  Rhyder came up beside me and looked down at Eliza. “Same MO.”

  “But she didn’t finish the job.” I stepped past him toward Griff and as I did something brushed my cheek. I reached, felt a string in my hand and pulled. A single bulb made a small circle on the dank earth beneath our feet and gave off a feeble light, but it was enough to illuminate a crawl space in the far corner of the room.

  Before anyone got to it, Griff was in head first, holding the flashlight ahead of him. He’d only been out of sight thirty seconds when we heard him yell, “I’ve got her.”

  I dropped in front of the hole and waited for him to push her through. Her feet were bound with wire embedded into the thin flesh of her ankles. Her socks and sneakers damp with blood. Her arms were bound behind her back with the same wire and her collarbone protruded from her neck. I placed a hand beneath her head and felt the stickiness of old blood in my palm. My nose filled with the sting of urine as she came through the hole. Her body swam in my arms and I blinked away tears that fell from my cheeks onto her foul-smelling clothes as I lifted her from what would have been her grave. The side of her face was swollen and blue, her eye closed and black, her lips were dry, cracked and swollen and her hair was filthy and matted, but I knew that for Griff nothing had ever been more beautiful than the rise and fall of her chest as she took each fragile breath. As soon as he was free of the hole I laid her in his arms. He buried his face in her neck and let go of everything he’d been holding back.

  John left the basement with the two officers and I heard the siren start as the first ambulance left the scene with Eliza. What had felt like an underground tomb was now awash with light. I followed Griff outside and laid my sweater over Allie’s face to protect her eyes. The crime lab van pulled into the driveway and the crew past us carrying suitcases and more lights.

  John came up beside me.

  “At least they’re breathing,” I said.

  “Let’s hope it stays that way.” He shook his head. “That’s too much for any child to go through. Even a tough one like her.”

  I followed his gaze and watched Griff help the EMTs strap Allie to a gurney. I put my hand on his shoulder knowing his own daughter was front and center in his mind. “She’s got him. She’ll be okay.”

  “Go ahead,” he said. “Tell Griff I’ll call him later.”

  Griff was just climbing into the ambulance as I got to it. He handed me his keys.

  “I’ll follow you.” I said. In his face there was sadness so deep I was afraid he would drown in it. I took his hand in both of mine. “She’s a fighter. Sandra won’t get the better of her. We won’t let her.”

  He pulled me into him and I felt his body go slack against mine, but only for a second. That’s all he’d give himself.

  “We gotta go, miss.”

  I stepped out of the way and an EMT closed the door then ran to the front of the vehicle. The lights came on and the siren sounded and they were gone.

  “You heard Detective Stark,” Rhyder said from behind me. “Go on, get out.” He nodded after the ambulance already taking a left up the hill toward Maine Medical Center. “I can handle things here. You’re only a PI, anyway.”

  I searched my brain for a smart-ass comeback, but I was too tired and when I looked at him he gave me one of his rare smiles.

  “That was nice work, Callahan. We might not be here now if it wasn’t for the way you handled Sandra. Where’d you learn to lie like that?”

  “Law school.”

  FORTY-THREE

  I drove to Maine Medical Center, images careening inside my head like bumper cars. Eliza practically dead and Allie a mass of bruises, blood and broken bones. And that was just the visible stuff. The worst of it would be inside, scars that would never heal. Griff was usually clear headed and organized when he worked a case, but this one had bent all the rules. Thank God he’d be preoccupied with Allie for the next few days. I thought of Sandra sitting in a cell at the Portland P.D. and called Haggerty.

  “You better put Sandra in secure holding,” I told him when he picked up.

  “I heard. How are they?”

  “Alive and on their way to Maine Medical, Griff’s with Allie. I haven’t had a chance to speak with him. It’s not that I wouldn’t like to see Sandra take a beating, but
for Griff’s sake keep her well out of reach, will you?”

  “I’ll have her moved to Windham. She can sit and wait for trial there.”

  “Has she contacted a lawyer yet?”

  “She said you were taking care of that.”

  “Fat chance. Tell her I lied.”

  I put down my cell and pulled into the medical center’s emergency lot. The nurse at the desk directed me to the third alcove in a row of white curtains. When I pushed the white cotton divider back Griff was bent over Allie, her good arm securely around his neck holding him close. They were both crying. I felt like an intruder and took a step back, but Griff looked up and reached for me.

  “Britt,” he said.

  He pulled me toward the bed and squeezed my hand then leaned over Allie again resting his cheek against her forehead. None of us spoke. The hiss of the blood pressure cuff and occasional whimper from Allie were the only sounds. I lay my head against Griff’s back. His body shuddered beneath me.

  A few minutes later the curtain was pushed back and the rest of the ER came alive around us. Nurses hurried past, fluorescent lights invaded our dim corner and codes we didn’t understand blared from the intercom.

  “I’m taking her to X-Ray,” an aid said snapping the brake release on the side of the bed. “You can wait here. It won’t be long.” He wheeled the bed past us and down the hall.

  Griff stepped into the corridor and watched them go then turned to me looking like a deer in headlights, completely out of his element.

  “She’s gonna be okay,” I said.

  He came back into the room and collapsed onto the plastic chair beside me. “She’ll heal, but she’ll never be the same.” He dropped his head into his hands. “She’s only fourteen.”

  “Have you heard anything about Eliza?”

  He shook his head. “What if she doesn’t make it?”

  I laid the palm of my hand on his back. “Then Allie will have you.”

  “I’m not enough.”

  “Griff, you love her. There’s nothing you won’t do for her. As long as I’ve known you, she’s taken priority over everything in your life. Believe me, that’s more than a lot of kids have.”

  He put my hand to his mouth and kissed it.

  “She’ll be gone for a little while. Do you want coffee?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  We took the elevator to the cafeteria, picked up a couple of large coffees and headed back to the ER. We didn’t speak, but we held hands and it felt like it would be a long time before either of us let go.

  When we got back to our little alcove in emergency Allie still hadn’t returned. “I’m going to go see what I can find out about Eliza.”

  He started to get up just as a doctor stepped inside the curtain that protected us from the rest of the emergency ward.

  “Mr. Cole?”

  Griff nodded.

  “You came in with Eliza Cole?”

  Griff nodded again.

  “She’s badly beaten, multiple fractures to her skull and brain swelling. Right now we have her in a medically induced coma. It’s the safest thing to do until the swelling comes down and relieves the pressure in her brain. We’ve inserted a breathing tube. One lung was crushed so she’s not taking in enough air on her own. All in all, it’s difficult to make a complete assessment at this time.”

  “Wait a minute,” Griff said. “What do you mean difficult to assess. She’ll get better won’t she?”

  “We don’t know the extent of damage to her brain yet and having had her ability to breathe cut in half for as long as she has can have lasting effects, sometimes permanent damage.”

  “Meaning?”

  “She may need some type of breathing assistance in the future.”

  In my head I saw Christopher Reeve in a wheel chair with a breathing tube down his throat.

  “There’s no way to know if this will be the case for Eliza until she’s become more stable. Right now all we can do is wait and hope and I suppose pray, if that’s your preference.”

  Griff looked at him and let out a cynical laugh. “The big guy checked out. Hope you’re not counting on him.”

  The doctor ignored Griff’s joke. “I’ll be checking in on Eliza throughout the night. Leave a number where I can reach you with the nurse.” He turned on his heel and disappeared into the crowded ER.

  We sat back down in our plastic chairs and sipped hospital coffee.

  “I don’t know where to begin,” Griff said. “I’ve got to call John, speak with Allie’s school and put a bullet in Sandra’s head. And not necessarily in that order.”

  “Haggerty moved her to Windham. We both thought that would keep you out of trouble.”

  Griff shook his head and dropped his eyes to the table. “All the years Eliza worried about the risks I took at work. She always said one day I’d wind up dead.” He downed his coffee and threw the Styrofoam cup into a metal wastebasket on the other side of the room. “And now she’s the one.”

  “It’s not your fault, Griff.”

  He raised his eyes to mine. “The hell it isn’t.”

  “It had nothing to do with you. Sandra wanted her mother and thought Eliza could find her. She knew Eliza had worked at the shelter. She would have gone after her no matter who she’d been married to.”

  “How did she know Eliza volunteered at the shelter? That was years ago.”

  “She did her research. Remember she told us that they keep records for years. I’m sure as the shelter’s Director, it wasn’t hard for her to get the information she needed. You can’t feel responsible. The blame is Sandra’s.”

  “And maybe the goddamn shelter’s for telling mothers to leave without their kids.”

  “When a woman leaves an abusive relationship she’s at the highest risk. No one wants a child to see its mother get killed. And women do send for their children once they’re settled.”

  “Sandra’s didn’t.”

  “Maybe she had a reason. Maybe she didn’t want to. But ninety-nine percent of women get their kids.”

  The curtain swung open, wire rings scraped along the metal rod. A nurse informed us that Allie had been taken to Pediatrics, room 127.

  “She’ll be here for the night,” she said.

  “Is there a problem?” Griff asked.

  The nurse shook her head. “No, but she’s had some head trauma and should be under observation for the night. She can go home in the morning.”

  The walls in Pediatrics were painted with green grass, blue sky and wild flowers. I felt like I was walking through a garden as we made our way down the hall. Inside, the room was a steep contrast. The shades were pulled and the room was dark except for one tiny light that allowed the nurses to check Allie’s vital signs every half hour. She was on a medicated drip that would keep her asleep through the night. Right now, oblivion was the best place for her.

  There was a light knock at the door and Father Francis stepped into the dimly lit room.

  “How is she?” he asked moving to the side of Allie’s bed.

  “A few breaks and bruises that will heal over time,” Griff said standing beside the priest. “Father, I ah…I want to apologize for the way I treated you and I’m grateful for what you did. I know it came at a high price.”

  “You were a father saving his daughter, Mr. Cole. No apology necessary. I’m just sorry it took me as long as it did to come forward. The rule I broke was man-made. I have no regrets.” Father Francis touched Allie’s cheek then extended his hand to Griff. “Best of luck to you. You’re in my prayers.”

  I walked with him to the elevator. “It must have been an almost impossible decision for you,” I said.

  “At first, I thought it was, but as time went on, it was inaction that became impossible.”

  “No matter what the outcome for you?”

  He stopped and pushed the button at the elevator then looked at me. “That little girl and her mother are alive because I went to the police. The only regret I live with is that
I didn’t act faster. If the church finds me guilty of wrongdoing, I don’t care. In God’s eyes I saved two of His children. I’m forgiven.

  When I got back to Allie’s room, Griff was wrapped in a blanket in a reclining chair. He lifted the edge of the blanket as an invitation and I slid in beside him. The television was low, but not low enough that we missed the eleven o’clock news and a recap from Channel 8 that detailed the police hunt and finding Eliza and Allie. John gave a brief explanation of Sandra’s past and assured the community that she was behind bars.

  “The mayor will sleep well tonight,” Griff said.

  “He might be the only one.” I pulled the cotton blanket to my chin and snuggled against Griff trying to find comfort in a hospital recliner.

  FORTY-FOUR

  By five-thirty I’d had enough and slipped out of the chair. Griff continued to snore. Evidently he was more practiced than I at finding sleep in impossible positions. I left the room in search of fresh brewing coffee and found it in the cafeteria. Armed with bagels, cream cheese, o.j. and coffee I made my way back to Pediatrics. Griff was just coming down the hallway when I got off the elevator.

  “Let’s sit out here,” he said motioning to a small lounge area, “so we don’t wake Allie.”

  He took the food from me and kissed my cheek.

  “Thanks.”

  “I was hungry.”

  “Not just for this, for everything.”

  I was just about to get sentimental when the elevator bell dinged, the doors opened and Katie stepped off, holding a stuffed purple bear, three coffees in a carrying tray and a bag from Dick’s donuts.